Annette Funicello, the most popular Mouseketeer on “The Mickey Mouse Club,” who matured to a successful career in records and ’60s beach party movies but struggled with illness in middle age and after, died Monday, The Walt Disney Co. said. She was 70. She died peacefully at Mercy Southwest Hospital in Bakersfield, Calif., of complications from multiple sclerosis, the company said. Funicello stunned fans and friends in 1992 with the announcement about her ailment. Yet she was cheerful and upbeat, grappling with the disease with a courage that contrasted with her lightweight teen image of old. The pretty, dark-haired Funicello...

Since we are on the anniversary of 9/11, I think it is important to stop and remember your 9/11 experience. For me it started like a normal day. I was driving my kids to school at 7:10am that day. The sun was shining in that brilliant blue sky with such light! On the way to school, my daughter was asking if I was going to the school meeting that evening to discuss the 8th grade trip to Washington that would be coming up that following spring. I told her no, I thought it was not wise to go to Washington...

An al-Qaida-linked extremist group warned Pope Benedict XVI on Monday that he and the West were "doomed," as protesters raged across the Muslim world to demand more of an apology from the pontiff for his remarks about Islam and violence. The Mujahedeen Shura Council, an umbrella organization of Sunni Arab extremist groups that includes al-Qaida in Iraq, issued a statement on a Web forum vowing to continue its holy war against the West. The authenticity of the statement could not be independently verified. The group said Muslims would be victorious and addressed the pope as "the worshipper of the cross"...

Here are some links from the FR archives in observance of the fifth anniversary of 9/11/2001 - Threads list of several breaking news items - Latest Articles The first post reporting the attacks by OldEconomyBuyer - World Trade Center Posted on the first anniversary - Associated Press newswire - September 11, 2001 - Chronology of news alerts, bulletins and flashes

wish I'd met him in person, but despite the lack of direct human connection, I feel I knew him. I also know there was something unique about this man, Pope of the Roman Catholic Church John Paul II. Was it his words? There's no doubt he was an educated man and a talented writer. He could reach the audiences to which he spoke, whether in person or in print. He had a way of choosing the direct path to our heart, our mind, our conscience and our soul. This was a man who was comfortable speaking to millions of people...

Please take the time to watch this video, we must remember those on September 11, 2001. We can never forget, and we can not let those who wish us to forget to let us forget. Please, take 15 minutes from freeping, this is bookmarked on my home page, Thank you FReepers. Indy.Never Forget. If you let it run past the video, there are many good quotes after.

<p>A military police commander killed this week during a bloody battle outside a cleric's headquarters has become the highest-ranking Army officer killed in hostile fire in Iraq, according to an Army spokesman at the Pentagon.</p>
<p>Lt. Col. Kim S. Orlando was among three soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division, based at Fort Campbell, killed when a joint U.S.-Iraqi patrol confronted gunmen outside a mosque in the Shiite Muslim holy city of Karbala.</p>

<p>Pfc. Daniel R. Parker, 18, thrown from a vehicle Tuesday, is the youngest 101st Airborne Division soldier to die in Iraq.</p>
<p>His name was Daniel Parker, but most everybody knew him as Dan.</p>
<p>Smiling Dan, 18, who a year ago raised his hand to solemnly swear that he would ''support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.''</p>

<p>'Do you believe in miracles?" Al Michaels shouted from Lake Placid one February afternoon in 1980. And millions of Americans had become believers.</p>
<p>For the unimaginable had happened: The United States Olympic hockey team - 20 young amateurs - had stunningly upset the prohibitively favored Soviet national team, hardened pros to a man.</p>

With so many memorial sites, graphics, photos, videos, flash movies, etc. proliferating on the internet since the 9-11 attack on America, it is almost impossible to keep track of them all. The purpose of this thread is to provide a convenient archive for posterity. Use this thread to post links to any sites you have found particulary memorable or that would be of interest to other FReepers. (Please post your comments and the links only to save bandwidth).

May we not forget their sacrifices http://www.pressaprint.com/som/wesupportu2.htm Some Gave All In Every Generation... There Have Been Those That Have Answered The Call... ...To defend freedom,Oppose tyrannyAnd free the oppressed...All gave some... Some Gave All....They were with us then..They are with us nowThey love...They prepare...They comfort...They yearn...They fight...They pray...And sometimes...They die...Yes, the same brave souls are with us today...But what's more important...Is that we are with themhttp://www.pressaprint.com/som/wesupportu2.htm

<p>The battle of Iraq may be over but the warriors for peace struggle on. Theirs is not an easy road, particularly, we hear, in the entertainment industry, which is packed with notables fresh from their vocal campaign against the war, the president, Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney--objects of scorn in all the best circles, from Paris to California.</p>

Marine Cpl. Armando Ariel Gonzalez died while serving his adopted country. On Tuesday, the day he was buried, that country adopted him by giving him U.S. citizenship. Eduardo Aguirre, acting director of the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services, presented the citizenship certificate to Gonzalez's family at his funeral Mass at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church. Aguirre brought a message from President Bush: "We as a nation share in your mourning." Gonzalez, 25, died on April 14 in Iraq in an aircraft refueling accident. The Hialeah resident, who came to the United States from Cuba about eight years ago, was the...

I truly wish I had been on this flight. H O M E I want to tell you of an experience I had last night flying home from Atlanta. The pilot came on the intercom and went through the usual announcements telling us that "we're just east of Montgomery cruising at 28,000 feet" and "you've picked a beautiful night for flying, just look at the gorgeous southern sunset out of the right side of the plane." He then, however, said this: "Please bear with me as I deviate from the script, but I want you all to know that simply...

<p>ARLINGTON, Va. -- Surrounded by Marines in crisp blue uniforms, Buddhist monks in flowing orange robes prayed over the casket of Cpl. Kemaphoom Chanawongse yesterday at Arlington National Cemetery.</p>
<p>Chanawongse, 22, was honored in a rare Buddhist prayer service at the cemetery, a ceremony that celebrated his life and the sacrifice he made in dying last month in a firefight in Iraq.</p>

Fusilier Turrington's coffin is carried by pallbearers from his regiment. Photograph: Andrew Parsons/PA KELAN TURRINGTON, the youngest British soldier killed in the Iraq conflict, was buried with full military honours at a church near his family home yesterday. Fusilier Turrington was 18 years and 131 days old when he died in action as troops stormed the southern Iraqi city of Basra on April 6. The teenager’s coffin was draped in the Cross of St George on which his beret and hackle were placed. The coffin was carried by six pallbearers from the regiment. His parents Ann, 46, and John...